


Cocaine Blues (Reimagined)

by afteriwake



Series: Molly Madness Month - March 2017 [5]
Category: Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries, Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Character Swap, Alternate Universe - Fusion, Alternate Universe - Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries Fusion, Drinking, Episode Remix, Episode: s01e01 Cocaine Blues, Gen, Irene As Lydia, Lady Smallwood As Aunt Prudence, Molly As Phryne, Molly's Past, Old Friends, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Reunions, Sally As Mac, Sally Donovan & Molly Hooper Friendship, Sassy Sally, sassy Molly
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-02
Updated: 2017-03-02
Packaged: 2018-09-27 19:27:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,875
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10041842
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/afteriwake/pseuds/afteriwake
Summary: After years away from Australia, Molly Hooper returns to make sure the man who kidnapped and killed her sister never sees the light of day again. But on her first day back in Melbourne, she gets wrapped up in the death of a friend’s husband, which is not quite as simple as it initially appears.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [IdrisSmith](https://archiveofourown.org/users/IdrisSmith/gifts), [elliedilly](https://archiveofourown.org/users/elliedilly/gifts).



> So this is a fusion of the Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries universe with the Sherlock universe, something that was suggested to me ages ago that I had jotted down for a big bang but never got around to doing. Ages ago, under a different title, it was claimed by **IdrisSmith** but was more recently claimed by **elliedilly** , and with the help of some lovely Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries fans on Tumblr I was able to find [transcripts of MFMM episodes at Forever Dreaming](http://transcripts.foreverdreaming.org/viewforum.php?f=288). Parts of the fic are directly from the episode "Cocaine Blues," written by Deb Cox, while other parts of dialogue are mine. If it is recognizable from the episode, those words belong to Deb Cox and not me.

The boat’s disembarkment dock dropped down at Victoria Docks but Margaret Hooper wasn’t ready to disembark yet. It had been a long voyage, from England back to Australia, and she’d had quite some time to make her plans and sort out her goals. But first, she wanted to breathe in the air and relish the fact that she was home.

It was a strange concept, in its way, home. She hadn’t really felt she had a home since Janie disappeared. Oh, she knew the truth even if that bastard James Moriarty would never admit it, that she was no longer among the living. It was the urge to right the wrongs she hadn’t been able to right in saving her sister that had fed her long ago started habit of roaming the world, learning and practicing whatever skills she could to be the type of person who could be…

Well, not a hero, but perhaps a help, if there was a help needed. Lord knew most police were too corrupt or set in their own ways to do much. And now that she had a fortune of her own and a title in the family, she had a bit more sway. So eventually, she would help where she could in Melbourne.

But first, she had a score to settle.

Well, rather, first she had a boat to disembark from. _Then_ she had a score to settle.

She adjusted the hat on her head and smoothed the front of her dress. A sailor themed frock, simple but of luxurious quality, just like most of her clothes. It really was quite nice after a childhood in secondhand flannel and patched up cotton. If she knew anything at all, her dear friend Sally would be waiting for her on the dock, just wondering at what trouble her old friend was bound to cook up. After all, she had avoided Australia since before the Great War; the sudden return could only mean one thing, and they both knew it was the man in jail who had never admitted to what he had done to Janey.

All in due course, however. Reunions first.

She made her way down and looked for Irene. She was not one to be easily missed; not because she went for all-out elegance, but just the opposite. The more she looked like a fashionable man the more comfortable she was. It seemed the only way most people took her seriously, because a black woman in her field was nearly unheard of, and if she practiced in dresses in skirts the world, or at least the hospital board, would most likely have told her to go home, that her place was in the kitchen in servitude to her husband. Both of them would have gotten a laugh at that, knowing there would never be a husband in Sal’s life. But Sal said if this is what it took to get the help to women who needed it, then this was what it took, and trousers were infinitely more practical anyway.

“If it isn’t the Honourable Margaret Hooper!” she heard the familiar English accented voice shout to her. Oh, even after all these years in Australia, Sal’s accent never wavered. Margaret turned and looked for her friend, smiling when she saw the doctor weaving through the crowds. When she got close enough Molly reached over and hugged her friend dearly, not caring at anyone gawking. Let them. “About time.”

“How are the Antipodes?” Margaret asked, pulling back to look at her friend. Oh, Sally looked a bit older, a bit more worn, but still determined and clever and dear God, still the same friendly face she so desperately needed.

“They’ve missed you desperately,” Sally said before letting her go and linking her arm through Margaret’s.

“So they damn well should,” Margaret said with a firm nod. She nodded to the men pushing her trunks and then the two women began to move forward, making their way to transportation to get them to the hotel she had chosen to stay at while the details on her residence were being finalized. She had her reasons for picking that particular establishment, and it would do well to get there and get settled before she began making social calls.

Sally glanced back at the trunks and then shook her head, giving Margaret a bemused smile. “Oh, traveling light again.”

Margaret gave her a rather cheeky smile in return. “Must be some advantage to a sea voyage otherwise I would have joined the Avro air race.” She pressed closer to her and then leaned in. “Come on now. You have to tell me what I’ve missed in the years I’ve been gone.”

“Oh, where do I start?” Sally said, shaking her head. “Margaret, you and I haven’t seen each other since the ambulance unit disbanded in France. We were lucky enough to have spent the War together, and then you just...flew off, chasing God knows what around the world.”

“I had my reasons. And _not_ just the one you’re thinking of,” Margaret said. “My father has a title, I have wealth, and once I made my not so graceful exit from Paris, I decided those two things should be put to good use to help people.”

“You always did have a kind heart behind that sharp tongue,” Sally said. “What types of skills did you learn?”

Margaret tilted her head back and forth. “The kind best not talked about in the open due to their tendency to be put to less than legal use,” she said.

“Are you a spy for her Majesty?” Sally asked.

“Well, I dabbled,” Margaret said modestly. “But no. I learned the skills of a cat burglar, and how to scale buildings, and better enhanced my skills at safe cracking and lock picking. I’m considering becoming a private detective.”

“Better than watching you hang because you get mixed up in something you can’t handle,” Sally said, shaking her head.

“I’ll have you know, Sally Donovan, that there is quite a bit I can handle,” Margaret said with mock outrage before the two women collapsed into a fit of giggles. “Come on. I need to freshen up a bit. I know there are people who were waiting for me to arrive so I’m sure my social calendar should be filling up shortly.”

“No doubt,” Sally said. 

They slipped into chatting about more recent events, things that had transpired since their last exchange of telegrams, as they made their way to a cab and then to the hotel. Once they were taken to Margaret’s room Sally went to pour herself a drink while Margaret unpinned her hat and tossed it to the side before ruffling her hair slightly. She rather liked the bob cut, even if it was a bit severe; it was much less high maintenance than her long hair with its tangles. There was another reason, though, that she had this particular cut. She’d had a similar cut as a girl, though longer, and she hoped it made her eventual appearance at the prison ring a bell for a certain inmate before she even spoke a word. She may not dress in rags and hand-me-downs now, but some things were still similar enough to those days gone by.

Margaret watched as Sally went to the window with her drink before she went to prepare one of her own. “What are your intentions?” Sally asked. “You've had three months at sea to ponder.”

So. Apparently, they _were_ going to play this game, Margaret thought to herself. “Well, I intend to leave my family as far behind as possible,” she said, stretching slightly before going back to her drink.

“I think you've managed that. Next?” Sally asked before taking a sip of her drink.

“Well, I could learn Abyssinian,” Margaret said, moving closer to the window to join her, forgetting about the drink. “Or perfect my barefoot dancing.”

Sally lowered her hand and looked at Margaret with the sad eyes that always knew too damn much. Sal was an old soul, she was, and had seen far too much hurt than one person should bear. That was why they had bonded, because they _knew_ , and still believed in the best of people, still wanted to help, though Sal with far more cynicism than her. “We both know why you're here,” she said softly. “Darling, you can't bring Janey back.”

Margaret almost replied immediately, but a knock at the door saved her. She would be strong, be brave, and not show any hint of the turmoil under her skin she felt about her sister or that bastard. “But I can stop him doing it again,” she said, moving away from the window towards the door. “Premier Hogan is a regular guest of this establishment.”

“Straight to the top, then,” Sally said, lifting her glass back up to take another drink.

She opened it and was handed a sealed envelope by the bellboy. “Miss Hooper?” he said.

She took it and gave him a smile. “Thank you,” she replied before closing the door. She turned the envelope over and saw an embossed A on the back. Carefully she slid her finger underneath the sealed part to open it and then pulled out an invitation. “A luncheon. Today?! With Irene Adler,” she said, a small smile on her face. “How lovely.” Then she read the invitation further and the smile fell. “Oh. And Aunt Elizabeth.”

Sally moved to one of the chairs and sat in it, draping a leg over the arm. “Shame I have to perform an urgent bowel operation,” she said.

Margaret put her hands on her hips and gave Sally a perturbed glance. “You are really going to leave me to suffer my aunt by myself?”

“I deal with her every time there is a meeting of the hospital board and they need to speak with me about the womens hospital,” Sally said. “Now it’s your turn to have some of her delightful temperament.”

“But on my own?”

“You’re the bravest woman I know, Margaret. If anyone can handle your Aunt Margaret during a polite afternoon luncheon, it's you. Just remember, her bark is _mostly_ worse than her bite.” Margaret glared and Sally raised her glass to her friend. “If I were you, I’d enjoy a little tipple before you go. Might help.”

“No, I need all my wits about me,” she said with a sigh. “The real trick is finding what to wear.”

“A task to which I will be of little help,” Sally said. “So I will amuse myself with your comforts and tell you if your battle armor is just scandalous to irritate your aunt when you come out.”

That made Margaret smile despite herself and she went over to Sally, tipping her hat back and kissing her forehead. “It’s good to be home, Sal,” she said.

Sally looked up and gave her a fond smile. “It’s good to have you back, Molls.”

Margaret laughed at the fond nickname and then dashed away to her bedroom to go through her clothes and see what would pass for a society luncheon and still make her aunt’s eyes bulge a bit. She had to have _some_ fun, after all...


End file.
